Taft, Kennedy Draw High Playoff Seedings

Four high school teams from the region--Taft, Kennedy, Monroe and Poly--were granted high seedings for the City Section 4-A and 3-A Division boys’ volleyball playoffs.

Taft (12-0), the Northwest Valley Conference champion, was seeded No. 2 in the 4-A Division, and will host Banning in the first round, which begins Tuesday.

The Toreadors have a potential semifinal match against conference rival Kennedy (10-3), which was seeded No. 3 and will open against Bell (3-9).

“If we play it right, we’ll have three games in the Valley, two at home, one at Taft,” said Kennedy Coach Mike Stanton.

Palisades (13-0), which reached the 4-A championship match last season, was seeded No. 1.

Granada Hills (9-4), defending 4-A champion, was seeded No. 8 and hosts Venice in the first round. If the Highlanders win, they could face Palisades in a rematch of the City 4-A final last year.

In the 3-A Division, Monroe (10-3), Valley Pac-8 Conference champion, was seeded No. 1 and will host L.A. CES.

Third-seeded Poly (11-2) will host Fremont.

Fifth-seeded Sylmar (9-4) will host Hamilton.

Van Nuys (9-4), which lost to Eagle Rock in the 3-A championship match last year, was seeded No. 8 and will host Franklin.

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George Roumain of Pepperdine has been named men’s player of the year by the American Volleyball Coaches’ Assn.

Roumain is a 6-foot-6 junior opposite hitter for the Waves, who are in Hawaii this weekend competing in the NCAA Division I Final Four. He leads Pepperdine with 682 kills and 26 aces, and ranks third with a .427 hitting percentage, 173 digs and 127 blocks.

Ryan Millar of Brigham Young, who went to Highland High, was named to the All-American team.

Millar, a 6-7 junior middle blocker, is a repeat selection after hitting .381 and averaging 5.34 kills and 2.39 digs per game.

Pepperdine senior middle blocker Chris Jacobson was a second-team selection.

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Alyssa Hain, a 5-8 setter who played for Cal State Northridge last season, said she will transfer to Cal Lutheran next fall.

Hain played at La Reina High.

Michelle Loughmiller, a 6-foot middle blocker for Newbury Park, has committed to Cal Lutheran.

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Former Royal High volleyball player Jenny Treglown, who will graduate from Northern Arizona on May 9, was selected the Lumberjacks’ female athlete of the year and female scholar-athlete of the year.

Treglown, a middle blocker, was Big Sky Conference player of the year and is the first Northern Arizona player to be selected all-conference four times.

FOOTBALL

Solayman Rafiq, a senior tight end for Royal High, has committed to University of San Diego, Royal Coach Gene Uebelhardt said.

FENCING

The Chaminade High boys’ fencing team won the gold medal in the All-California Fencing Championships last weekend in San Francisco.

Chaminade fencers, coached by Father Lawrence Calhoun, won gold and silver medals and took eighth place in men’s individual competition.

Freshman Derek Snyder won the gold medal in the men’s individual competition. Junior Matt McConnaughy took the silver and sophomore Vinnie Carbone finished eighth.

The Chaminade girls’ team finished fourth.

Chaminade’s victory was the second in the 30-year history of the tournament by a school outside of San Francisco.

ICE HOCKEY

TeamLA, a girls’ 15-and-under team, won the Phoenix Coyote Invitational in Tempe, Ariz.

Players from the region include Jessica Bernal of Chatsworth, Courtney Crane of Agoura, Krystal Grant of Valencia, Jessica Koizumi of Simi Valley, Colette LeBon of La Crescenta, Alanna Silvertrust of Camarillo and Jessica Schofield of Sherman Oaks.